COVID-19 and flu spread more easily in winter when we spend more time together indoors and vaccination is the best protection against these viruses.

Following the launch of our COVID-19 booster and flu vaccination programme in October, we sat down to talk to Mandi Tydeman from our Eastern Vaccination Team, to find out more about what the team does.

What does the vaccination team do?

We provide vaccination services to local communities across Eastern, Northern and West Devon. We offer a range of vaccinations, including those for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. The team’s goal is to improve public health by preventing the spread of infectious diseases and maintaining high levels of vaccination coverage.

Alongside vaccination we look to identify opportunities for collaborative working with services and organisations, to provide a wider range of health promotion offers in our outreach clinics. Such as addressing vaccine hesitancy, providing NHS health checks to help identify risk factors for conditions like heart disease and diabetes, health and wellbeing advice, blood pressure checks and smoking cessation. We also support our colleagues in community maternity services with the delivery of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) vaccination programme. These integrated services contribute to a more comprehensive approach to healthcare, addressing prevention and early intervention.

What does an average day look like?

There isn’t an average day in vaccination!

During seasonal campaigns you could find our teams vaccinating in various locations and settings across the county. This could be a vaccination centre, a warm hub in a church hall, transport hubs, a food bank, a night shelter, or a library.

We focus our outreach programme in areas of health inequality, working with community groups and organisations to provide equitable access to our services and increase vaccination uptake through education and signposting. 

We also provide vaccinations for residents in the community who are housebound or living in a care home. Once a seasonal vaccination campaign ends, we immediately start to plan the next programme, and continue to deliver our year-round vaccination offers as an outreach programme within communities. During peaks in the seasonal campaigns our team grows to meet the increased demand with the support of the amazing NHSP staff and volunteers. 

Why is vaccination so important?

Vaccines are the best way to stop many infectious diseases. They also help protect others in our family and community by preventing the spread of diseases to people who can't get vaccinated, Vaccines have played a vital role in eradicating or significantly reducing the prevalence of many diseases.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about the team?

The vaccination team is dedicated to improving community health and is committed to making the vaccination process as accessible and easy to navigate as possible for everyone.

Our team is made up of registered health care professionals, non-registered clinical staff, volunteers and our management team. We would not be able to provide our offers across Devon without the support of our colleagues in the acute and community and in partner organisations who work with the team to enable us to deliver such a comprehensive offer for public, in-patients and staff. 

Find out more about our vaccination sites and visit our online vaccination clinic calendar for the most up to date clinic dates.